Alpha - Chapter 1

Prologue
 

Beyond the asteroid belt that circles so close to Jupiter the scenery becomes amazingly bleak. Nothing seems to lie beyond this ring except inky blackness and a prevailing sense of coldness. This is the last great hurrah of the Terran solar system, the rest being mainly comprised of worthless chunks of ice. The captain of the prospecting ship the Betty Lou shivered a little at the imagined chill, taking another drag off his cigarette as he gazed out the window.

"You know, the air filters are bad enough as it is-"

"Give it a rest Lorraine," he growled.

She went to open her mouth to speak but was cut off by an alarm klaxon.

"What the hell is that?" He made his way to her station in the dark recesses of the cluttered bridge.

"I'm not sure, I'm not reading anything. I think it's a proximity alarm."

"You think?"

"If you had fixed this thing like I told you to-"

"Alright, alright. I'm gonna power her up, full throttle. We'll just move until the alarm goes off." He jumped into the helm seat and began to guide the ship as fast as he could away from whatever was closing in on them. His partner jumped out of her seat and ran over to the window to peer outside.

"I don't see anything."

The ship was trembling as the impulse engines fired with all their might. Something was nearby. A ship? Not likely. No one ever came out here, most ships hit warp as soon as they passed Jupiter or after taking in the rings of Saturn. The alarm klaxon continued to sound. Whatever it was it was big.

"Can't you get this piece of junk to go any faster?"

"Back off a second, will ya? There, we're clear." The alarm silenced and he swung them around to look at what they had been running from.

"I don't see anything," she said, scanning the empty space that loomed before them. "See? I told you that thing needed to be fixed. This is ridiculous!"

"Wait a second, do you see something?"

There was a tiny spot of color in their line of sight, shimmering with a rainbow hue.

"What the-"

The colors exploded outward, filling their field of vision. A gigantic form emerged, settling right over them. The colors reverted to their pinhole origin, then disappeared entirely.

The Betty Lou found herself sitting underneath the looming presence of an Intrepid class Federation vessel.

"Holy #%@! What was that? A wormhole or something? What ship is that?"

"Hold on, I can't see. It looks like?yea, it's the U.S.S. Voyager."

"Voyager?Voyager." His eyes lit up. "Voyager! Starfleet lost that ship years ago. Maybe it drifted into an anomaly, maybe?.maybe it's empty. Lorraine, honey, we just came across the find of a lifetime." He grabbed her and spun her around.

"The U.S.S. Voyager has arrived, folks. And we found her."

"Found? More like-"

"Yeah, yeah."

Home Waters

The U.S.S. Voyager was far from being a ghost ship. Its crew waited in painful anticipation, each frozen at their stations except for one person.

Tom Paris reconfigured the sensors, his fingers moving almost too rapidly to see.

Captain Janeway pushed herself back into her chair, her insides quivering. Her nostrils almost flared at the imagined smell of victory. Visibly, she could see only empty space stretching out in front of them. They couldn't be that far off; Seven was too precise in her calculations.

It had only been a few weeks ago that Seven had announced with her usual cool detachment that her theory to create a gateway was now applicable.

It was like a bolt of lightning on a clear day. After eight years in the Delta quadrant it appeared as if they might actually be going home.

She resisted the urge to snap at Paris to hurry up and waited like everyone else. She could feel Seven gazing at her from her station behind her. She wanted to turn around and share the moment with her lover of two years but she waited, she wanted to save it for when?

"I have our position. We are in the Alpha Quadrant, Sector 001.5!" He had to practically yell the last part over the clamor of excited voices.

She sighed and bowed her head a little. A smile turned up the corners of her mouth and she turned to look at Seven of Nine.

She had expected a little Borg smugness, but instead it appeared as if all of the color had drained form her face and her eyes were wide.

"Seven? Seven, are you alright?" She smiled a little at the former drone's state.

Seven only gulped in some fresh air and stared straight ahead.

In the midst of the celebrating Janeway rose from her seat and made her way to the back of the bridge. No more Delta Quadrant, no more guilt, and right now there would be no more mask of command. She was going to wrap her arms around the woman responsible for getting them home and she didn't care who saw her.

Seven was still incapable of speaking but returned Janeway's crushing embrace and released a shuddering breath, her body shivering.

Kathryn rested her head on the tall blonde's shoulder momentarily, then pulled away. She was in full captain mode again. She slapped her communicator.

"All hands this is the Captain. We have arrived in the Alpha Quadrant, Sector 001.5. We will be making contact with Starfleet Command shortly." She cut the transmission and looked over at Chakotay.

"You know what to do."

He nodded and began to send a prepared transmission to Starfleet. After he completed his task he gave the Captain a curious look.

"Captain, we're being hailed. Audio only."

"Open a channel."

"This is the Betty Lou, anyone there?"

"This is Captain Janeway of the U.S.S. Voyager, go ahead."

"We just saw you come through that thing. Do you require any assistance?"

"Thank you for the offer but we're fine."

"Well then, let me just be the first to say welcome home, Voyager."

"Thank you, it's good to be home. Voyager out."

Back on the Betty Lou Loraine gave her husband a curious look.

"Hey, at least they made it home. Want to take the rest of the day off?"

She snorted and went about her work.

**************************

Harry Kim leaned forward on his console and shook his head. "I expected something a little grander to meet us when we got home than a scavenger vessel."

"Things rarely turn out as you expect them to, " Tuvok commented, throwing a glance over at Janeway, who just shook her head.

"Tom, full stop," she settled back into the command chair, grinning ear to ear. She knew tough times were ahead, that they'd have to move swiftly, there was little time allotted to enjoy the moment but right now that was what she was going to try to do.

Chakotay watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"Everything will be downhill from here," he commented. "But boy will you have a lot of explaining to do."

She laughed out loud. That was an understatement.

"Incoming priority message from Starfleet Command."

"Transfer it to my ready room." Her face hardened a bit as she glanced at her first officer. They both rose and exited the bridge.

"What's that all about?" Harry pondered.

The mood on the bridge had sobered to one of quiet anticipation. Seven stiffened as she watched the Captain and Chakotay disappear behind the doors to the ready room.

She knew very well what this was about and it chilled her to the bone.

******************************

Seven's gaze was fixed on Janeway as she emerged from the ready room and the captain wondered if the young woman had been staring at the doors the entire time she had been in there. She gave a little nod that would have been imperceptible to anyone else.

Seven relaxed her shoulders and inhaled deeply.

"Mr. Paris, lay in a course for Earth, Starbase 113, impulse engines only. Put us at a nice stroll."

"Aye, Captain."

"Chakotay to all Maquis members: Please meet me in the mess hall, now."

Paris nearly twisted his head off as he attempted to look at Chakotay, only to see him already heading into the turbolift.

Tuvok understood the bridge crew needed their curiosity satisfied to some degree so he posed a direct question to the Captain.

"I assume negotiations with Starfleet went well?"

"No one from this ship will have any trouble waiting for them on their doorstep, I can assure you of that." She stood from her seat and put her hands on her hips. "I'm going to do a quick walk around of the ship. Tuvok, the bridge is yours." She walked around to Seven's station.

The tall blonde had returned to her usual cool veneer but Janeway noticed her chest rose and fell in a rhythm quicker than usual. She nodded towards the turbolift; sky blue eyes returned an understanding of her intentions. Seven left her station and followed her into the turbolift.

She waited until the doors closed before addressing Seven of Nine.

"Normally, this would be the part were I'd congratulate the members of the crew most responsible for our success, but today that person is you. How would you like to be congratulated?"

Seven's expression did not change but she blushed furiously.

"Ah, I see. Computer, emergency stop."

The turbolift stopped its journey, humming quietly.

"Will this be adequate?" She wrapped her arms around the other woman's neck and pulled her down for a gentle kiss.

Seven responded eagerly, but then pulled away, keeping her arms around Kathryn.

"And Starfleet, will they be as?grateful for my contributions to Voyager?"

"You've got nothing to worry about. You're part of the package, artificial wormhole builders are hard to come by and they know that. They'll probably want to examine you, ask you some questions-"

She began to shift uncomfortably and Janeway tightened her grip.

"Nothing is going to happen to you, not while I'm around, understand? But they're going to be watching you, remember that. Just stick close to me, everything will be fine." She stepped back and ordered the turbolift to continue on.

When they arrived at the mess hall Janeway added her own personal assurances to along with Chakotay's to those gathered that Starfleet would not be pursuing any form of prosecution against the former Maquis members.

She had suspected them to be far more suspicious than they were. Most were just happy to be home, something many had dared not hope for.

The crew's behavior towards Seven had changed immensely, especially among the Maquis. Not only was she the person who had gotten them home but they saw her as a comrade-in-arms, a person who possibly had to be as wary of Starfleet as themselves.

Even B'Elanna's behavior towards Seven was visibly more jovial as she approached her after the meeting had ended.

"Well, tall, cool, and Borg, it looks like you did it," Torres beamed at Seven, giving her a playful swat on the shoulder.

Seven didn't understand why Lt. Torres was hitting her in the shoulder but she returned the gesture, practically knocking the engineer to the floor.

"Lieutenant, I apologize-"

"It's okay, to me that's just a love tap. Good job today, Seven."

Janeway was pleased to see the gestures of affection towards Seven; it was as if she was finally being pulled into the fold. They needed a united front for whatever may lie ahead.

Seven took the attention gracefully and handled the situation much better than Janeway had expected her to. Social grace was not a skill that Seven had exactly mastered.

*******************

 

"You know, there's another thing you have to worry about when we get to Earth," Janeway commented as they walked down the hallway to sickbay.

"What?" Seven asked, stopping dead in her tracks.

Smiling gently, she took her arm and they continued on their walk.

"My family. You'll be meeting them when we get back." She chuckled a little as she thought of the scene. Her sister would no doubt have something sarcastic to say. It would no doubt be quite shocking for them to meet her love interest, especially when that love interest was a goddess bombshell of a woman and a former Borg drone to boot.

"Don't worry," she grinned. "I'll protect you."

"I was not worried before, but now I am."

They entered the sickbay and the EMH was activated.

"Please state the nature if the medical emergency. Captain, Seven: how did everything go?" He asked, some mild concern playing on his features.

"We're in the Alpha Quadrant, only an hour or so away from Earth. We've negotiated an agreement concerning the Maquis on board, but they don't know about you yet."

"We are waiting until we arrive to discuss the particulars of your situation," Seven stated.

"I would imagine they would be pleased with my progress. Look how far I've come from my original programming!" He waved his arms in the air excitedly to add to his point. "They could update the entire EMH program scheme."

"One thing at a time. Let's just keep them from deactivating you first, okay?"

His expression grew positively horrified. "They wouldn't, would they?"

Seven and Janeway exchanged glances.

"We'll see you when we get there. You have nothing to worry about."

"Easy for you to say."

Janeway gave him a smile and left the sickbay.

Outside Naomi Wildman was waiting. She fixed her gaze on Seven, then looked almost warily at the Captain. She motioned to Seven to lean down so she could whisper in her ear.

"Are we in the Alpha quadrant now?"

"Yes."

"Are we going to be leaving the ship?" A half sob slipped out of her grasp and tumbled onto Seven's ears. "Where's everybody gonna go? Where am I going to live?" The sobs came furiously, crammed in between the words that came gushing out in a torrent of tears. She threw her arms around Seven's neck and hid her face.

"I'm scared," she whispered in a tiny voice.

Seven took a deep breath as she picked Naomi up to cradle her in her arms. She didn't know what to say, and that scared Naomi even more.

"What are you afraid of Naomi?"

"Lots, I guess."

"The future concerns me, but we'll adapt." She tilted Naomi's chin up and forced her to look into her eyes. "Yes?"

Naomi nodded. "Agreed."

Seven set her down but continued to hold her hand. Naomi clung to her, anchoring everything on the tall Borg. Seven inherently understood the responsibility she now shouldered and continued to hold the girl's hand as they made their way through the ship together, probably for the last time.

 

Homecoming

It had been a rather dull day at the docking station that orbited Earth. There had barely been any traffic all day, the main space traffic controller looked down disinterestedly at his coffee cup. Four more hours of this nonsense?

"Sir, we have a transmission from Starfleet Command."

"Pipe it over here, ensign." He leaned forward in his chair and tried to act interested. The others in the control center watched a variety of interesting expressions cross their commanding officer's face. Finally, he leaned back and looked at his crew.

"We have a ship coming in about five minutes, so let's hustle. No one speaks about this to anyone outside of this room, understand? This is need to know information only at this point."

"What ship is it that we're not talking about here?"

"Voyager, now let's get going. We'll need a tugger, what docks do we have open?"

The control center began to bustle as they counted down the minutes to Voyager's arrival.

Captain Janeway had returned to the bridge as they had begun to approach the docking station. The station loomed in front of them, spinning slowly; it's blue lights blinking in the distance. The blue marble of Earth spun below and it drew her attention away from the station for a moment.

"Voyager to Starbase 113, permission to dock."

"Permission granted, proceed to designated area 241. Do you require a tugger?"

"Negative."

"We'll guide you in. Welcome home."

 

Word had gotten out as soon as the bay doors had begun to open and crowds had already gathered to peer at the incoming starship. Every window was filled with astonished faces as the Voyager finally docked, the first time since she had left on her maiden voyage.

After she was docked the ship was put under quarantine until the ship had been thoroughly scanned and each crew member examined.

Janeway agreed, and as the ship was combed over she continued to speak with Starfleet Command.

Admiral Paris had beamed on board Voyager despite the quarantine in order. After a rather awkward reunion with his son he met privately with Captain Janeway. They sat in Janeway's ready room and discussed the future debriefing that was being prepared for the ship's crew. They had already been allowed to contact friends and family but were not going to disembark until after the quarantine had been lifted and the debriefing had taken place. After these things occurred there was to be a homecoming celebration in San Francisco.

The Federation had just come out of a military conflict which had resulted in heavy losses and Starfleet needed to do some flag waving the Admiral explained. Many of the officers in Starfleet felt as if the organization they were a part of had started to drift away from its original mission. Celebrating the exploration ventures and triumphant return of a Starfleet vessel would help bring those officers back into the fold.

"Starfleet is talking about extending open invitations to your Maquis officers to join Starfleet if they wish. Right now it's still in the discussion stages but I'm sure there won't be too much opposition."

"Starfleet needs people right now as I understand it. Did you read my briefing concerning the Doctor?"

"The sentient hologram, yes. We're planning to transport his program and transport him to Starfleet Medical, along with the holo emitter as well."

"After the homecoming of course," she asked wryly, her lips curving into a smirk.

"If that's what you want." He walked over to the window and looked out at the other ships that were docked at the station. There were fewer now, just like there had been after Wolf 359. His thoughts turned to the other matter he had been meaning to bring up, the one that had been hovering in the back of his mind and hanging like a specter over the entire conversation.

"The Borg female you have on board-"

Janeway looked over at him; her features grew soft for a moment. "Seven of Nine."

"Yes, the Hansens' girl. Starfleet is very interested in the research materials that you recovered from the Raven."

"I imagined they would be."

"But there's some concern over the drone, especially with one with so much of her biometric circuitry still intact. I'm surprised that you took such a chance, I mean, even having her on her board was a huge gamble."

"A gamble that paid off very well. What's the concern?" This was something she had expected, so she was prepared for just such a conversation. She began immediately retrieving potential arguments that she had already mentally filed away concerning any misgivings they might have concerning Seven.

"There's just some curiosity concerning how cleanly she was severed from the collective."

What do you mean by 'cleanly'? I can assure you, Admiral, she is no longer with the collective, nor is she harboring any thoughts of rejoining."

"Yes, well we would like her to participate in the debriefings at Starfleet headquarters that we're planning for you and your senior officers."

"I'm sure she'd have no problem with that."

"Good. Now that's out of the way about the homecoming celebration. I was told there was something you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Yes, I put down some ideas but this was the main thing I wanted to discuss with you." She handed him a PADD and took a seat behind her desk.

He scanned it over briefly and then glanced up at her, his eyes wide.

"You can't be serious?"

"I'm very serious."

"You want to land Voyager in Golden Gate Park?"

"That's the general idea."

"I'll have to check with Necheyev about this one. You know, it is a rather good idea. Well, I have to be on my way. It was good seeing you Kathryn, I'll see you down there."

After watching him go something caught her attention and she saw her workstation was blinking, indicating that there was an incoming message for her from Earth. She acknowledged it and her sister Phoebe's face appeared.

"So, are you guys ready to go or what?"

"We're still under quarantine right now. We have one more general debriefing to go through and then we'll disembark. How's Mom holding up?"

"She's over the initial shock, now it's the waiting that's killing her."

"That's not the only shock she'll have to weather," Kathryn said quietly, almost too quiet to hear.

"What are you talking about?"

"How do you think Mom would handle me being involved with a woman?" She paused and took a breath. "A?younger woman?"

Phoebe's face was stone, devoid of any expression. Then it began. A smile crept its way along her features, evolving into a toothy grin and eventually some giggles spilled out. The giggles mushroomed into loud hoots of laughter and eventually Phoebe disappeared from her sight all together. She had fallen off her chair.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Kathryn said in her best command voice, but a little amusement flavored her words.

"I'm sorry?I'm sorry." Phoebe climbed back into her seat and wiped her eyes. "I just?I've been waiting for this day for so long. The day you're wild side finally came to the surface."

"It's not as wild as you would like to think."

"For you, it's wild enough. You know, I fooled around with a woman once."

"Phoebe, I'm really not interested about your sexual escapades."

"So, how did this happen?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later. You can meet her at the homecoming. Oh by the way, she used to be with the Borg-"

"Borg? You know how to pick 'em. I bet Starfleet will just love that."

"They'll?have to adapt," she said with a small smile.

 

The crew went through a general debriefing and then boarded Voyager to embark on their final flight together to San Francisco. The main concern of Starfleet Command was keeping the details of Voyager's journey home a secret. They didn't need speculation running rampant through the Federation, or to their enemies.

Kathryn had gotten her way. Most were a little shocked that Starfleet was letting them set down right on the doorstep, all except Seven of Nine who expected no less of their captain.

Seven was in Engineering with B'Elanna when she got the call to report to bridge. When she did she saw the blue marble of Earth hovering in front of them. Paris was guiding the ship slowly through the atmosphere. As she watched the spectacle the anxiety started again. She felt her heart start to hammer in her chest and her mouth go dry.

There were so many people on that little orb. That thought alone terrified her, especially when it came to one person: Gretchen Janeway. Perhaps she would unexpectedly be required to regenerate.

Janeway turned in her seat and gave her a wry smile, utterly destroying any hope of retreat on Seven's part. She sighed and accepted her fate. Maybe if I just keep quiet, she thought to herself.

Golden Gate Park

A throng of people had gathered outside of the designated landed area for the incoming starship.

Phoebe Janeway shaded her eyes as she looked up into the cloudless sky.

"See anything?" Her mother asked.

"Not yet. The weather's nice enough."

"It could be raining and we'd still be out here."

"Yeah?I see something. I think that's them."

A silver dot in the distance grew impossibly large until it loomed over them. Immediately, everyone on the ground recognized the spoon shaped form of the U.S.S. Voyager. Gretchen realized that she was holding her breath and let it out slowly. Glancing to her left she saw Admiral Necheyev standing next to her. Everyone had their heads tilted as they watched the ship approach.

The first few moments after Voyager landed it was a conflagration of unchecked emotion. Janeway broke into tears when she finally saw her sister and mother in person for the first time in eight years.

Seven watched from a distance, trying to resist the urge to turn and run. As she watched Kathryn break into tears she felt her heart clench in her chest. Someone moved beside her and she looked over to see the Doctor.

"Is that the Captain's family over there?"

She assumed her normal posture and icy Borg exterior. "Yes, that's Phoebe and Gretchen Janeway."

"Why aren't you over there?"

"I am waiting."

"Nervous?"

She set her jaw and shifted a little. "Yes."

"Seven, I'm sure you'll do fine, just remember what I taught you."

"The Captain said I should forget what you've taught me."

"Seven!"

She turned towards the sound of Kathryn's voice and saw her standing by her family, waving her over. The Doctor gave her a shove forward and she turned to give him a little look of distress before resigning herself to her fate.

Phoebe watched as the statuesque blonde made her way towards them.

"Well, you certainly picked a ripe one off the vine, didn't you?"

"Phoebe," Gretchen growled.

Seven stepped forward, assuming her best stoic pose. Janeway grimaced a little when she saw this, knowing that Seven was probably feeling nervous. She always reverted to Borg aloofness when she was uncomfortable.

"Seven, this is my mother Gretchen and my sister, Phoebe."

Seven held out her hand politely and Gretchen took it gently.

"Kathryn has barely talked about anything else but you since Voyager got home. She said you were nervous about meeting us today."

"That is accurate."

"We'll be gentle with you," Phoebe said with a grin.

Seven seemed to grasp Phoebe's sardonic humor immediately and offered a small smile in return.

Janeway heaved an internal sigh of relief. This may not be so bad after all. She needed them to see the human side of Seven, not the Borg, not right now anyway.

"So, how's she been?" Gretchen asked, tilting her head towards Kathryn.

"Aside from drinking too much coffee, she's?fine."

Phoebe smiled, "Well, at least that hasn't changed."

Okay, so far so good. Sometimes, in social situations, Seven was like a bomb waiting to go off.

"I saw Mark was here with his wife," Gretchen commented.

Oh great. "Really, I hadn't expected him to be here."

"Well, you two have been friends since you were kids, of course he was going to be here."

They all saw the glint in Seven's eye, but only Kathryn knew it meant trouble.

 

B'Elanna watched Tom Paris fraternize with his old buddies and found the conversation anything but interesting. Tom kept throwing smiles her way but they never touched his eyes, or hers. She crossed her arms and looked up into the blue sky above them. It was hard to believe they were even here, it seemed almost surreal, just like those smiles Tom kept beaming at her.

She could pick out her friends in the crowd, Neelix talking to Samantha Wildman, Captain Janeway was being led away by Admiral Necheyev, no doubt to prepare for the homecoming ceremony. As she left the company of her family B'Elanna noticed Seven began to scan the crowd with a decidedly predatory look on her face. Feral expressions were things with which she was very familiar.

This just might be interesting.

"So, let's find out some things about you, Seven. What do you like to do?"

"Do?"

"You know, any hobbies?"

Her first instinct was to mention astrophysics and calculus but she decided to pick something more recreational.

"Music. I have learned to play the piano." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kathryn pause to talk to a man before she continued to follow the Admiral. She recognized the man as Mark Johnson; she had examined his picture to be prepared for his possible arrival. He appeared to be unaccompanied.

"If you will excuse me, there is someone I must speak to." Seven politely bowed her head to the two women and then walked away, already focused in on her target.

When she first approached Mark Johnson his attention was focused at parts of her anatomy other than her face. No matter, it was not relevant to what she had in mind.

"Mark Johnson." She addressed him in reasonably good imitation of what Kathryn called her "command voice".

"Umm?yes?" His gaze flowed up her body to her eyes, and when he saw the ice there he almost shivered.

"I am Seven of Nine, Kathryn's lover."

L..Lover? All he could manage was a swallow.

"Please state your intentions towards her." She clasped her hands behind her back and waited.

"Well, we've been friends for a long time. We had been engaged to be married before she left?you probably know that. That's over now, of course, eight years is a long ti-"

"Excellent, I'm glad you are properly apprised of the situation. It was a pleasure meeting you." She kept one hand behind her back and held out the other one expectantly. He took it and felt an incredible pressure squeeze down on his hand, he was surprised he didn't hear bones cracking. Before he fell to his knees she released his hand and walked away.

 

B'Elanna snickered as she watched Mark Johnson almost double over and Seven stalk away. She was heading in B'Elanna's direction and the engineer gave her a discrete thumbs up.

Seven nodded in understanding as she continued on her way.

 

After the various luminaries had given their speeches the gathering turned into one of a decidedly party atmosphere. The sun was starting to set when Janeway decided it was time to be on her way.

She made her way through the gathering of people to say her good byes. Most were surprised she was leaving so early. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, except B'Elanna, who had something buried deep that only occasionally flashed in her eyes.

She came across Necheyev, who congratulated her on her speech.

"Thanks, I didn't think anyone was listening. I'm about ready to head back to Indiana with my family, I just need to find Seven."

"Seven?"

"Yes, she's coming with me to Indiana until the debriefing starts."

"Oh?I thought she would be staying here. Starfleet would like to keep an eye on her."

"Well, I'm Starfleet so I guess I can keep an eye on her, right?" It wasn't a question.

She found Seven talking with the Doctor again. His expression was decidedly melancholy. What was going on with everyone today?

"Seven, you ready to go?"

"Yes. Goodnight Doctor."

He took her hand and shook it. "Goodbye, Seven. It's been fun, hasn't it?"

She paused, registering the unusual timbre in his voice. "Yes, it has."

"Good luck." He gave her a smile and then disappeared into the crowd.

Kathryn registered it as odd herself, and shared a quick glance with Seven.

"Oh well, let's get going."

Seven followed Kathryn out of the crowd and towards the transport that would take them to Indiana.

 

They stayed up all night talking, at least the Janeways did a lot of talking, Seven just sat and listened for the most part. Kathryn would occasionally glance in her direction and throw her a smile to make sure she wasn't feeling uncomfortable, and Seven always returned in shyly.

Just getting Seven to smile even in her company could be an effort at times, it relieved her a little to see her do it in front of her mother and sister. She must be somewhat comfortable around them, thought Kathryn.

Kathryn's mother had gone to bed right before the pink of dawn had begun to appear on the horizon.

"The sun's coming up. I'm going to go out on the porch to watch it. Anyone want to join me?"

Seven gave her a little nod of ascension and rose up from her seat on the couch.

"Not me, I'm going to catch some sleep. Goodnight you two, try to keep it down. There's nothing more annoying than the sound of a squeaking bedsprings."

"Phoebe! Good-NIGHT!" She turned to look at Seven. "Please ignore her."

"Maybe you should follow your own advice. I'm not the one bothered."

Kathryn snorted as she refilled her coffee mug. She grabbed the afghan off the couch and went onto the back porch.

There was a long, sturdy white wooden loveseat on the porch. She sat down, got herself situated, and then motioned to Seven to sit down next to her, pulling her over a little so they leaned against each other, then spread the afghan over both of them.

Seven reached back and undid the clip in her hair, letting it fall about her face.

"It's been a long time," Janeway mumbled.

"Three days is a long time?"

"Wha-no, not that. God, you have a dirty mind, Seven. Who would've known? No, it's been a long time since I've seen a sunrise on Earth, much less in Indiana." She took a sip of her coffee, feeling Seven rest her head on her shoulder.

"Are you happy now, Kathryn?"

"Yes, yes I am." It seemed to surprise her to even say the words. She smiled a little as she felt the sunlight warm her face.

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